It is reasonable to believe that Judas’ betrayal of Jesus would constitute a mortal sin. Why did Jesus give him Communion at the Last Supper, then? Or had Judas left the table by that point?
If Judas did receive Communion – as Scripture appears to indicate that he did – then there may be any number of reasons why Christ allowed Judas to receive even though Judas had already been plotting Christ’s betrayal (Luke 22:3-4). Two possibilities include: Christ may have hoped that the grace of Communion ultimately could save Judas’s soul. Judas did indeed feel remorse for what he did (Matt. 27:3-4), although he chose the wrong means to demonstrate that remorse (Matt. 27:5). Another reason may be that Christ respected Judas’s free will, just as he respects our free will, and so did not deny Judas Communion even though Judas did not have faith that it was Christ’s body and blood (John 6:66-71). Judas’s example can serve for Christians as a vivid demonstration to what reception of Communion while failing to believe can lead a person (1 Cor. 11:27-30).
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